Baby Name of the Day: Boston

Skyline of Boston. Picture was taken from a wh...

Boston Skyline; Image via Wikipedia

Montana, Brooklyn, London.  Is it a kindergarten roster or an atlas?  Oh wait, Atlas is in the class, too …

Thanks to Chantal for suggesting her son’s name as our Baby Name of the Day: Boston.

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Sunday Summary: 5/15/11

Door Number 15

Door Number 15 by cogdogblog via Flickr

Since I’ve starting writing AppMtn, I’ve learned that I can usually tell you why a name rose – hindsight is 20/20 – but I cannot tell you, with any certainty, which names will make the US Top 1000 in the year 2020.

I can say, with some confidence, that the majority of the names in the Top 100 will likely still be there in another decade.  It takes years for popular names to wane: Jennifer reached #1 in 1970, but didn’t leave the Top 100 until 2009.  Jason reached #2 in 1972, and he still came in at #69 last year.

The Freakonomics 2015 predictions at Baby Name Garden reflect the power of momentum.  It is easy to imagine that Avery and Jackson would rise, but nearly impossible to guess which names would enter the Top 1000.  They identified stylish choices like McGregor and Eleanora – not bad for baby naming rookies – but it takes more than that to make a popular name.  There’s also this Business Insider article, suggesting that Griffin and Adele are among the ones to watch.

So I’m always in awe of the annual po0l winners at Baby Name Wizard.  They seem to have a crystal ball, or maybe just a really sharp sense of how trends impact statistics.

Elsewhere online:

In starbaby news:

  • Alicia Silverstone almost managed to take the focus off Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon’s twins by issuing a birth announcement of her own.  Alicia’s cub was named Bear Blu;
  • Except not really, because Nick Cannon gave an interview explaining the names and insisting “I think we did a good job on the names. They ain’t gonna be mad at us when they grow up.”  Okay.  I hope so, too;
  • Kings of Leon’s Matthew Followill is a new dad to son Knox Cameron Patrick;
  • How did I miss this?  David Boreanaz and wife Jamie had everyone talking when they named their daughter Bardot Vita.  Only they never called her Bardot.  They call her Bella, and apparently have made the change legally, too.  (Though it looks like they added Bella, so she’s Bella Vita Bardot.)  Hat tip to M for mentioning it on the Nameberry post about Modern Hero Names.

Last week at Nameberry was all about names borrowed from the labels of kids’ designers.  This week I’m off in a different direction.   Think fjords + comic books + popcorn + the ancient world.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading and have a great week!

Baby Name of the Day: Ellington

Central Avenue Jazz Festival

Image via Wikipedia

He’s a surname worn by a jazz great.  How would he work in the first spot for a child born today?

Thanks to Chantelle for suggesting Ellington as Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/13/10

So the Glee baby was named Beth. And Nikki Blonsky has a new series on ABC Family called Huge, apparently set at a summer weight-loss camp.  Her character’s name caught my eye: Willamina, though I believe she’ll be answering to Will.

In other, completely random news:

And then there’s the biggest discovery of the week: Nancy posted the Social Security Administration’s lists of Names outside the US Top 1000 that were given to 100 or more newborns in 2009.  You can check out the girls’ list here and the boys’ list here.  You’ll finds lots of variant spellings – Alexandrea, Jurnee, Olyvia and Kooper, Mykel, Trever - as well as some lovely surprises – Constance, Juniper, Honor and Thatcher, Perry, Gibson.  And were more than 100 little girls really called Halo?  And were the 177 baby boys called Major inspired by the Novogratz family?

Since the birth rate in Hollywood was a disappointing zero this week, I’ll leave you with Nameberry’s Will Maisie be the next Daisy? It’s a fascinating list, and it suggests why it is so very hard to find a name that is just a little bit different.

Have a great week, and, as always, thanks for reading!

Name of the Day: Lorcan

Will we ever run out of Irish appellations common in Europe, obscure in the US?  Let’s hope not!

Thanks to Corinne for suggesting another Gaelic choice.  Lorcán is our Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/7/2009

The big news this week was, of course, the new addition to Kimora Lee Simmons’ family, her son with actor Djimon Hounsou, Kenzo Lee.  The self-proclaimed model-mogul-mom also has two daughters/reality starlets, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.  

In other starbaby news:

  • Comedian Gilbert Gottfried and welcomed son Max Aaron, a brother to Lily Aster.  Max is clearly the new Jake – but what with the Max/Maxwell/Maxfield/Maxim and such choices, it may be a few years until his popularity is obvious in the Social Security rankings;
  • Max is clearly a celeb fave - Lance Armstrong welcomed a son named Maxwell Edward, little brother to Luke, Isabelle and Grace;
  • CNN correspondent Brooke Anderson announced the birth of daughter Kate Victoria – I’m a sucker for that one-syllable first name, longer middle name pattern – it’s quite unexpected;
  • Charmed alum Holly Marie Combs named her third son Kelley James.  Big brothers are Finley Arthur and Riley Edward.  Finley, Riley and Kelley – they sound quite a bit like Angie Harmon’s Finley, Avery and Emery, don’t they?  Only we all know that Angie’s trio are girls;
  • R&B singer/reality TV star Bobby Brown welcomed a son, Cassius.  He’s the fifth kiddo for Brown – older sibs are Landon, LaPrincia, Bobby Jr. and Bobbi.

Elsewhere online, you don’t want to miss:

  • The Toronto Star profiled a couple with daughters named Kalliyan – rhymes with stallion – and Taevy – rhymes with Davey.  Thing is, mom is Cambodian and says that they’re both Cambodian names.  But are they the Cambodian equivalent of Katherine and Mary, or the Cambodian equivalent of Tiffany and Mackenzie?  Cross-cultural names are tricky;
  • Speaking of cross-cultural naming, Nameberry’s post on quirky British names was pure fun – I loved Oliver Reckless Hyatt, Alexi William Martin Rabbit, Ursula Isabel Langdale and Elspeth Alice Eugénie.  If you’re so inclined, you can check out the Telegraph Birth Announcements yourself.  Just now, I stumbled on a newborn Rufus, brother to Stanley and Jasper;
  • A few readers have mentioned that they find Swistle’s posts a little on the dull side, and while she does field questions from parents choosing between Ava and Emma, check out these combos: Abigail Genevieve Dahlia, Sophia Madeleine Eilidh, Gemma Evangeline Claire and Ivy Susannah Vivienne - all sisters;
  • Speaking of Ava and Emma, Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” did a fun Alternate Top 100 – ideas to substitute for those familiar most common choices.  Check out her boys’ list and girls list. And yup, she suggests Max as a substitute for Jacob;
  • Nancy of Nancy’s Baby Names has been on location in France, seeking out unusual appellations in museums and graveyards, store windows and monuments!  I’m seriously thinking of saving up to send her somewhere else fabulous because her series was just amazing.  Two of her finds – Nadège, the name of my old roommate (she was Haitian), and Raphaëline – which I’d love even sans umlaut;
  • Lastly, Swistle also posed a question about whether siblings’ names should match?  And what does that mean anyhow?

I think it goes without saying that sibs’ names should have something in common.  The question that plagues me is what to do when your partner has a child from an earlier relationship.  If his first two kids are Kaylie and Jayden, do you try to match the style?  Or do you stick with Oliver and Eleanor?  Or try to split the difference with something like Matthew and Avery?  It’s not a challenge I’ve faced personally, but every time I hear a much-married celeb’s list o’ kids – like Bobby Brown’s quintet – I wonder.